The full member partners cooperate on various topics in several working groups at SmartFactoryKL. Developments, trends, visions, and ideas that are defined by the members themselves, are further developed and conceptually designed to enable, in the next step, their implementation and integration in the demonstrator.

Four working groups are currently active:

Visionary Application Scenarios

The Working Group Visionary Application Scenarios is responsible for the continuous development of the SmartFactoryKL Industrie 4.0 production plant as well as its presentation by the partner consortium at the joint booth at Hannover Messe. This cooperation has already led to one White Paper.

Topics & Scope of Work:

Identification and evaluation of use cases for digitalization and Industrie 4.0 solutions

Past Results:

Cover of the WhitePaper about the System Architecture for Industrie 4.0 Production Plants

Smart Infrastructure

The Working Group Smart Infrastructure focuses on the topic of safety and a modular safety concept was already integrated this year. This is proof that modular safety can be realized using today’s technologies. Production modules may be inserted or removed without any impairment to the rest of the line. The entire process continues to run safely. Novel, illuminated emergency stop buttons keep the operator informed at all times if a machine is safely connected to the plant.

Digital Factory

The Working Group Digital Factory performs the digital mapping of the modular design of the Industrie 4.0 production plant that emerges from the SmartFactoryKL system architecture. SmartFactoryKL makes specific reference to the so called administrative shell concept proposed by Platform Industrie 4.0. Based on existing standards, various objects, such as the manufacturer-independent production modules (stations), are supplied with relevant object and instance data from the engineering process. The data is first enriched, managed, and then used for the specific use case, such as when (re-)engineering for scalable production.

Topics & Scope of Work:

Transfer of the RAMI 4.0 administrative shell concept to the SmartFactoryKL system architecture

Automation Technology

The Working Group Automation Technology created the TSN demonstrator as preliminary integration of the concept in the Industrie 4.0 production plant. The demonstrator introduces the TSN Ethernet as a manufacturer-independent communication infrastructure. It highlights the real time capabilities of the L2 protocol using the example of SERCOS, an industrial Ethernet protocol. The real time capability is shown by a synchronized SERCOS motion control application, while simultaneously transmitting best-effort traffic in the form of a video broadcast. Real time capability is one of the things made possible by TSN systems. The synergy of OPC UA and TSN is expected to be the new standard communication for M2M (machine-to-machine) systems. In the future, TSN and OPC UA are set to become the backbone of communication for the manufacturer independent Industrie 4.0-production plant, also replacing the module intern communications.

Topics & Scope of Work:

Communications in the production plant of the future, for example, TSN, 5G, and OPC UA

Outstanding implementation and validation using the technology demonstrator

Past Results:

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Membership

The technology initiative is supported through the active contributions of its members and the financial support of sponsors. The members and sponsors create a lively partnership as together we realize the visions of future production.

If you are a supplier of Industrie 4.0 components or software; or, you want to use and implement the concepts of Industrie 4.0; or perhaps, you have other interests in becoming a member, then you too are cordially invited to become a part of our network.